A Summary of Donald Trump’s Healthcare Reform

I for one do not hold what a politician said fifteen years ago against them, if times have changed or perhaps they have evolved. I did not hold it against President Clinton when ( I think he was a candidate at the time), said when asked about the use of marijuana, ” I smoked, but I did not inhale.” I did not hold it against George W. Bush while running for office that it came out that he had a DUI in 1976. It did not bother me that President Reagan was a democrat, before he became a republican, and it does not bother me that Donald Trump was once for socialized medicine in this country. Here is a brief summary of his health reform plan. The information comes from his website as well as two of his books “Time to Get Tough” and “Crippled America.”

The goal of Mr. Trump’s health plans is to follow free market principles to create a sound public policy that will broaden healthcare access and improve the quality of care for all Americans. He has eight basic concepts to do this.

The first which you hear from pretty much all republicans is to repeal Obamacare, especially the individual mandate. As he believes no one should be required to purchase health insurance unless he or she wants to. The next step is to modify the law that inhibits the sale of health insurance across state lines. This act is known as the McCarran Ferguson Act. Trump, as many republicans believe that if you eliminate the boarders and allow full competition in the market that costs will go down for the consumer.

Mr. Trump wants to allow individuals to fully deduct the health insurance premiums from their tax returns. Businesses are already allowed to do this. This would help make it so everyone can afford insurance. He also believes that Medicaid needs to be reviewed, so all of the cost barriers are removed so everyone can afford it, if they want it. Like many republicans Trump wants to expand the use of Health Savings accounts. Contributions to the HSA remain tax free and allowed to accumulate. This would also become part of the estate to the individual and could be passed on without penalty.

The Trump plan would require price transparency from all healthcare providers. Individuals should be about to shop to find the best prices on exams or any other medical related procedure. He also wants to remove barriers for drug providers that offer safe lower cost products. Allowing consumers to find imported drugs from overseas will bring more options to the consumer.

The next part deals with Medicaid. The Trump plan would block-grant Medicaid to the states Nearly every state offers Medicaid benefits beyond what is required by law. The State governments know what is best for their state, States would have incentives to stop waste and abuse

Lastly, and this is common amongst many Republican plans as well is Tort reform. Trump’s healthcare reform plans would cap pain and suffering charges at $100,000. According to a study by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, defensive medicine accounts for 10% of all Medical costs. Physicians are afraid of being taken to court and as a result are ordering tests they would ordinarily not order. Trump’s plan would also ask for a “loser pays” law that make the loser pay the legal bills of the winner if the charges were deemed baseless. The state of Texas recently passes a loser pays legislation.